WTVO: Mercyhealth Names New Riverside Hospital After CEO Javon Bea

Mercyhealth’s newest hospital, on Riverside Boulevard, now has a name: it will be known as the Javon Bea Hospital.

The Mercyhealth Board of Directors made the announcement on Monday.

Bea, a Rockford native, has served as the President and CEO of Mercyhealth since 1989. He is credited with much of the growth Mercyhealth over the last 30 years.

While Bea says he is honored, he hopes it shows local kids they can follow the same path.

“I also hope it will be an inspiration to all those kids on the West side of Rockford, and throughout Rockford, that are born to humble means, that they can say, ‘Wow, look at that name on the hospital. That kid from the West side of Rockford, [from] humble means, [and] maybe, if I work hard, I can do the same thing.'”